Abductive reasoning
“Abductive” redirects here. For other uses, see Abduction (disambiguation).
Abductive reasoning (also called abduction,[1] abductive inference[2] or retroduction[3]) is a form of logical inference which goes from an observation to a theory which accounts for the observation, ideally seeking to find the simplest and most likely explanation. In abductive reasoning, unlike in deductive reasoning, the premises do not guarantee the conclusion. One can understand abductive reasoning as “inference to the best explanation”.[4]
The fields of law,[5] computer science, and artificial intelligenceresearch[6] renewed interest in the subject of abduction. Diagnostic expert systems frequently employ abduction.
